Gambling company Betway hit with record ₤ 11.6 m penalty

12 March 2020

Online betting firm Betway has actually been hit with a record charge of ₤ 11.6 m for failings over consumer defense and money-laundering checks.

The Gambling Commission said Betway stopped working to examine the source of funds of one consumer who transferred over ₤ 8m and lost over ₤ 4m in a four-year duration.

It also stopped working to efficiently connect with a consumer who transferred and lost ₤ 187,000 in two days.

The penalty bundle is the most significant to date dealt with by a UK gaming firm.

The Gambling Commission's examination said the failings were connected to transactions with 7 of Betway's high-spending consumers.

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It stated that "as a result of a lack of consideration of private customers price and source of funds checks, the operator allowed ₤ 5.8 m of money to stream through the service which has actually been found, or could fairly be suspected to be, earnings of criminal activity".

The commission said the examination had actually also revealed "inadequate management oversight", adding that a probe "into responsible Personal Management Licence holders" was continuing.

"The actions of Betway suggest there was little regard for the well-being of its VIP clients or the influence on those around them," stated Richard Watson, executive director at the Gambling Commission.

"As part of our ongoing program of work to make betting safer, we are pushing the industry to make quick progress on the locations that we think about will have the most substantial impact to safeguard customers," he added.

"The treatment and handling of high-value customers is a considerable piece of that work and operators are in no doubt about the requirement to deal with the problem at speed."